The present disclosure relates generally to ground support equipment for aircraft and, more specifically, to ground power units for providing electrical power to an aircraft.
In the aviation industry, a wide variety of ground support equipment is available to provide electrical power and conditioned air, among other things, to aircraft. As will be appreciated, many aircraft are capable of generating their own electric power, such as through the use of onboard generators powered by the aircraft engines. However, because the generation of power by the aircraft engines consumes fuel, it is generally desirable to disable such engines when an aircraft will be stationary on the ground for any sustained period.
Because the internal power generation systems of such aircraft depend on the operation of the engines, and because aircraft are rarely configured to directly interface with power ordinarily available at a facility, external ground power units (GPUs) are frequently utilized to supply electric power to components and systems of aircraft when the aircraft engines are not in operation. For instance, GPUs may be advantageously utilized to provide electric power to aircraft parked at airport terminals, in hangers, on runways, or at some other location, which facilitates operation of a number of aviation systems, including communications systems, lighting systems, avionics, air conditioning systems, and the like, while the aircraft engines are powered down. Additionally, the power provided by GPUs may supplement power provided during operation of the engines while an aircraft is on the ground.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art, not all aircraft are designed to utilize power having the same characteristics. For instance, some aircraft utilize alternating current (AC) power, while others utilize direct current (DC) power. Further, even if two aircraft use power having the same type of current, the two aircraft may use power having different voltage characteristics from one another. Because conventional GPUs are generally configured to produce a specific output power, it is common to have a separate ground power unit or cart for each aircraft power standard that may be encountered. To further complicate this logistical drawback, power supply units used in certain conventional GPUs for providing control power to one or more components of the GPU are generally limited to accepting a limited input voltage range, power frequency, and/or either single-phase or three-phase power, and may require installing, interchanging, and/or reconfiguring components (e.g., changing transformer taps) in order to be compatible with other input power standards. Thus, depending on the type of aircraft that needs to be powered and the type of power sources that are available, there is currently little alternative but to design, build and operate ground power units specifically designed to accept and provide one type of power or another. However, buying, providing and maintaining GPUs for each power standard is inefficient and increases the costs associated with supporting a variety of aircraft types.
There exists a need, therefore, for an improved ground power unit system that includes a power supply unit capable of supporting a wide range of input frequencies and voltages, and which is able to accommodate the power requirements for a variety of aircraft types.